Careers

October 19, 2011

Unemployment is high and job creation is a top priority for America. But job creation is not the only piece of the puzzle. For many Americans including those with disabilities and people with low incomes, job opportunity cannot exist without job access. Even if a person is offered her dream job, there is no true opportunity if she lacks accessible transportation to get to the interview.

As Congress and the Administration consider how to combat unemployment, it’s important that they include accessible, affordable transportation in their agenda. People with disabilities disproportionately lack access to cars, but most of our nation’s transportation investments continue to focus on car-based travel. Options such as rail, commuter buses, and transit-oriented development—which means building employment, housing, and community services around accessible transit—not only increase opportunities for people with disabilities, they benefit the entire community by reducing traffic and pollution, enabling senior citizens to be closer to services and activities, and providing options for lower-income workers who can ill afford the $9,000 per year that it costs to own and maintain a car.

October 14, 2011

We live in a connected world. Facebook can tell us what our high school friends had for dinner. Mobile phones and texting make many people available around the clock. When I told my daughter how I used to go to a pay phone to call my cassette-based answering machine – and that I was really impressed at the technology that allowed me to play it remotely when it came out— she looked at me like I’m from another planet. It is another planet in many ways.

One thing hasn’t changed: when it comes to building a career, there is no substitute for face-to-face connections. There is no substitute for a human relationship with someone who knows what we’re capable of doing. Think back on your careers—for most of us, there is a critical human connection that made a difference for us. A teacher, supervisor, or colleague who connected us with a wonderful opportunity. Someone who reviewed our resume and encouraged us to apply for our dream job. An internship where we showed off our talents and proved that we we ready for the next thing. A human, face-to-face connection that worked.

Today AAPD, our partners, and volunteer networks celebrate the launch of Disability Mentoring Day (DMD) 2011. For thousands of students and job seekers across the country, DMD is provides a first-hand experience with the work force. Through a variety of events such as job shadowing, job fairs, and workshops, DMD participants have an opportunity to make a connection that matters. Over the years, DMD has led to lasting relationships that lead to career advice and internships or jobs.

There are many other ways to promote employment opportunity for people with disabilities: whether you choose to participate in a school mentoring program, hire a person with a disability in your own workplace, or advise a neighbor about career building, you are making a contribution. Our nation’s laws also affect employment opportunity. AAPD advocates for equal access to education and health care, investments in accessible transportation, and long-term support programs that promote rather than suppress employment opportunity. Please sign up for action alerts so that you can be a part of this work:http://www.aapd.com/site/c.pvI1IkNWJqE/b.5607285/k.42E6/Take_Action_Make_Your_Voice_Heard.htm

Then connect with friends, colleagues, and family members and ask them to join in, too.

June 20, 2011

Making History for Students with Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities

by Rayna Aylward

As high school seniors all across the country graduated this week, history was quietly being made in Washington, D.C. at the Department of Education for 23 D.C. public school students with developmental and intellectual disabilities. They, like their peers across the country, were graduating too. They all participated in a program called Project SEARCH. The 15-year-old program now operates in 39 states and four foreign countries, but this is the first year that the federal government has hosted the project in three agencies including the Departments of Education, Labor and Health and Human Services.

The goal of Project SEARCH is to prepare high school seniors with developmental and intellectual disabilities for employment. Instead of attending classes in a regular high school, the participating students reported to work every day in one of the federal agencies. They received vocational training from a special education teacher for part of the day, and then worked as interns in different offices, learning skills that would prepare them for paid employment in the government or private sector. Job coaches who were part of the Project SEARCH team accompanied the students to their assigned offices to teach them the specific job skills needed to fulfill each task...

June 06, 2011

...Randy Lewis, senior vice president of distribution and logistics for Walgreens, was the driving force behind Walgreens' extraordinary program to employ people with disabilities at its DC in Anderson, S.C. We first wrote about that effort in October 2007. In that story, we noted that Walgreens had committed to the plan even before selecting a site for the facility. And it was never seen as a short-term initiative or social experiment. Walgreens' decision to locate in Anderson was largely driven by the area's sizeable labor pool of disabled workers and the support services needed to help them succeed. "We wanted a sustainable model," Lewis said at the time.

And sustainable it has been. Today, workers with disabilities make up 40 percent of the work force at the Anderson DC, performing the same work as their more typically abled co-workers for the same pay. Walgreens has expanded the program to other facilities, most recently to its newest DC in Connecticut. And the Walgreens example has inspired other companies, including Lowes, Best Buy, Meijer, and Sears, to make similar efforts...

...On a February afternoon in 2007, Jonathan, a skinny, autistic 13-year-old, was asphyxiated, slowly crushed to death in the back seat of a van by a state employee who had worked nearly 200 hours without a day off over 15 days. The employee, a ninth-grade dropout with a criminal conviction for selling marijuana, had been on duty during at least one previous episode of alleged abuse involving Jonathan...

In the front seat of the van, the driver, another state worker at Oswald D. Heck Developmental Center, watched through the rear-view mirror but said little. He had been fired from four different private providers of services to the developmentally disabled before the state hired him to care for the same vulnerable population.

O. D. Heck is one of nine large institutions in New York that house the developmentally disabled, those with cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome and other conditions.

These institutions spend two and a half times as much money, per resident, as the thousands of smaller group homes that care for far more of the 135,000 developmentally disabled New Yorkers receiving services.

But the institutions are hardly a model: Those who run them have tolerated physical and psychological abuse, knowingly hired unqualified workers, ignored complaints by whistle-blowers and failed to credibly investigate cases of abuse and neglect, according to a review by The New York Times of thousands of state records and court documents, along with interviews of current and former employees...

How can recorded accounts of these institutions' mistreatment of residents and irresponsible management of funding be used to advocate for quality living situations for people with developmental disabilities? Please share your thoughts in comments below.

June 03, 2011

U.S. Departments of Transportation, Education and Labor Report Progress in Disability Rights Advocacy

By Jenifer Simpson, Government Affairs, AAPD

On Thursday May 27, 2011 AAPD participated again in the monthly disability outreach call that is hosted by Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy. This briefing focused on recent efforts and some updates by the U.S. Departments of Transportation (DOT), Education (DOE) and Labor (DOL) on steps they are taking to implement and enforce non-discrimination of people with disabilities.

Transportation

The U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, provided an update of his department’s various efforts to ensure accessible transportation, stating that accessibility is “One of our highest priorities at DOT,” and noted the importance of accessible transportation to employment, shopping and other activities. He also stated that “All people have physical limitations and all can expect disabilities as they get older.”

Travel: He said DOT will be celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Air Carriers Access Act (ACAA) in the fall with an event. He mentioned the ADA regulations issued in 2010 that ensure that boats and ships don't discriminate, that is, vessel operators cannot charge extra for accessibility related services, cannot require someone to have an attendant and must have knowledgeable people available with information about accessibility and to resolve concerns of people with disabilities. He also said DOT was working with the U.S. Access Board on several rulemakings for construction guidelines for passenger vessels and on accessible public rights of way, such as streets, sidewalks and intersections. He said that they were also working to finalize regulations on new and altered rail stations so people with disabilities can have access.

Airplanes and Airports: LaHood said DOT would issue Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs) soon. One will focus on airport and airline accessibility such as check-in areas, kiosks, airline websites, accessibility of in-flight entertainment, toilets on single-aisle planes, and service animals for psychiatric support. Another NPRM will focus on airport services such as service animal relief areas, captioning of waiting area TVs, and lifts used for getting on planes.

Enforcement: LaHood reported on DOT efforts to conduct better ACAA enforcement noting settlements with air carriers last year and civil penalties ranging from$125,000 to over $2 million, the largest ever assessed by DOT for a non safety-related violation.

Education

Russlynn Ali, the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) then spoke about the Office of Civil Rights division (OCR) at DOE and made an announcement about accessible technology in education.

Enforcement: She said that OCR has twelve regional offices around the nation that enforce Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the ADA. She said these offices field complaints from everyone and urged call listeners to contact these regional offices. She said that “Secretary Duncan wants to work proactively with schools, colleges and universities to ensure non-discrimination” and “to help with compliance on front end.” She said they have conducted nineteen compliance reviews over past the past two years, leading to improving education opportunities for many students with disabilities.

Accessible Technology: In follow-up guidance that DOE sent in June 2010 to college and university presidents on accessible E-book readers and other technology, Assistant Secretary Ali has now sent a new guidance letter on technology for students with disabilities. This “Dear Colleague” letter was sent to elementary and secondary schools, institutions of higher education, school boards, school superintendents and others on May 26, 2011. Ali said the new guidance “makes it clear that any emerging technologies, especially E-book readers, needed to be fully accessible” or other accommodations to disability “made in a timely way.” She said that the guidance includes an FAQ and other material and suggestions for teachers and others be as proactive and responsive as possible. Letters and Guidance are below.

Labor Department

Patricia Shiu, the Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) at the U.S. Department of Labor then spoke. She said OFCCP “is totally committed to full employment of people with disabilities, to have access to good jobs and to retain those jobs.” She noted that her office is one thirty of federal agencies that enforces civil rights and is “on the front lines for those who seek work and who are at work.” She said that “OFCCP was born in civil rights era.” She said that “those who contract and subcontract with the federal government must not discriminate in employment,” adding that “taxpayer dollars should never be used to discriminate.”

She said that one in four Americans works for a company with a federal contract, which is about 200,000 companies who receive over $700 million dollars annually. She said “enforcement actions should have positive ripple effect,” and her office has “a legal and moral responsibility to the public trust we hold.” She added that “being a federal contractor is a privilege, not a right, and they must abide by the law.”

New Regulations: Shiu said they were in the process of reforming the current OFCCP regulations. Last July 2010 they began the process with an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on Section 503 non-discrimination requirements in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. With receipt of comments from the ANPRM they have drafted a Proposed Rule on affirmative action and non-discrimination obligations of federal contractors and their subcontractors, sent to OMB on May 24, 2011, and which is under interagency review before it will be released for further public comments.

Ms. Shiu spoke about herself briefly, saying she had been a civil rights attorney for over 26 years, representing immigrants, people for whom English is a second language, garment workers, African American factory workers and people with disabilities. She said that “work is not about a paycheck but also about respect and self worth and financial security.” She added that “Workers want to be valued and want to work.” She also reiterated the Administration’s commitment to hire 100,000 people with disabilities over the next five years and that DOL is working on that.

Other Updates

Housing Lawsuit: Following these federal department updates, Kareem Dale provided some updates such as on the recent filing of a suit by US DOJ against the owners, developers, designers and construction company for nine multi-family housing buildings in Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. These complexes comprise over 2,000 apartments and the investigation is looking at accessibility of the apartments and access to the leasing offices among other issues.

Accessible Money: Kareem Dale then mentioned the recent release by the U.S. Bureau of Engraving of a free downloadable app called “Eye Note.” This can be used by blind people on I-phones to read the denomination of money. Dale noted how “Technology when accessible, gives access” and send he uses the app himself.

Presidential Citizen’s Medal: Dale said that the White House was still receiving nominations for the 2011 Presidential Citizens Medal, and that the close date was May 31 and encouraged listeners of the call to visit the website, see who has been nominated or to submit a nomination.

With critics saying low wages show that people with disabilities are being exploited and supporters saying the pay rates reflect opportunities, where do you stand? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

“It’s been very good for me to work here,” she told The Hill. “It was a good experience for me to do.”

While her duties may have been typical of most interns, Kollmorgen is anything but. Born with Down syndrome, she is part of a unique new program matching individuals with intellectual disabilities with congressional internships.

This internship program isn’t just a political issue for initiator Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.); it’s a very personal one. He has a 21-year-old son with Fragile X syndrome, an X-chromosome abnormality.

“My family — plus many other families with kids with intellectual disabilities — typically they go through a high school process, and then they drop off the educational face of the earth,” Harper told The Hill.

Last year, the congressman, in conjunction with the House Administration Committee staff and George Mason University, started the congressional internship program for people with intellectual disabilities to foster independence and teach workplace skills.

The program offers GMU students with special needs — typically ranging in age from late teens to mid-20s — the opportunity to work in lawmakers’ offices and perform workplace tasks.

“If you look at some of the tasks our interns are performing — be it filing, data entry — these are tasks that typical interns do, and these students are more than capable,” said Salley Wood, program coordinator and Administration Committee spokeswoman.

Wood said the pilot internship program in spring of 2010 included just six congressional offices. As of the spring 2011 semester, that number had jumped to 16.

Both Harper and Wood are hoping that number grows. To that end, the program brought on a fellow this month to help coordinate with member offices and increase awareness about the program around Capitol Hill.

Leah Katz-Hernandez, an HSC Foundation Youth Transitions Fellow at the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), is more than familiar with the workforce roadblocks and obstacles faced by those with special needs.

Katz-Hernandez is deaf, communicating to The Hill through a sign-language interpreter. She said her goals for the program include overcoming misconceptions and stigmas about what people with disabilities can accomplish.

“This is a great opportunity to place people with intellectual disabilities into the workforce, to help people who don’t have previous experience with individuals with intellectual disabilities realize that those people are in fact capable,” she said. “People with disabilities really do want to work; they’re very motivated. They’re very frustrated because of the discrimination they experience.”

Katz-Hernandez experienced that discrimination firsthand on Capitol Hill, when she interned here through a separate AAPD program.

“Someone tried to place me in an office on the Hill, and as this office contact heard about my background and qualifications, this person was impressed and interested in me,” she said. “However, once the person found out I was deaf, the reaction changed to ‘What could a deaf person do in a congressional office?’

“When I heard of what had happened, it really hit me: Why can’t a deaf person work in a congressional office?” Katz-Hernandez said. “That incident really showed how much people have no idea about what deaf people are capable of. They only think of what hearing people can do.”

How do you feel internship programs, such as the one Rep. Harper initiated on the Hill, can change popular perceptions of what people with disabilities are capable of? Share your thoughts in comments below.

May 20, 2011

State Grants for Vocational Job Opportunities Help Disabled Adults Find Meaningful, Well-Paying Work

by Star Ledger Staff

CRANFORD — Zach Bartosik has already held a couple of jobs, like washing dishes at a cafe for the elderly, but the 18-year-old with autism said the work was too repetitive.

"The jobs weren’t very stimulating," Bartosik said.

Now, however, the Scotch Plains teen does a little bit of everything at Green Sports NJ, ringing up purchases, helping customers find what they need and sprucing up the store’s used sporting equipment. The shop, in downtown Cranford, was founded by the Arc of Union County, a nonprofit that supports disabled people. Bartosik is just one of a number of adults with developmental disabilities who are finding out how to hold down a steady job at the recently opened store...

How can our community encourage even more small independent businesses to follow Green Sports' lead and support the inclusion of people with developmental and intellectual disabilities in the workforce? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Frankie Mastrangelo is the moderator for both the Justice For All (JFA) national email listerv as well as for the JFActivist blog. She is also an organizer for the American Association of People with Disabilities in Washington, D.C.